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Oct 03, 2023

The 2 Best Wine Clubs of 2023

The Martha Stewart Wine Company has discontinued its wine club memberships, so

The Martha Stewart Wine Company has discontinued its wine club memberships, so we’ve updated this guide to remove it as our budget pick.

Subscribing to a wine club can be fun and convenient, especially if you don't have access to a good local shop, or you don't want to stress over which bottles to buy. After researching more than 100 wine clubs, however, we found that many of them overprice their selections and aren't transparent about the types of bottles they’re selling. With the help of a sommelier, we tried five of the most promising clubs, and we recommend Wine Access and SommSelect.

We subscribed anonymously and assessed the condition the wine arrived in, the flavor of the wine, and the customer service.

We hired a sommelier to join three of our kitchen staff members in tasting wines from each subscription service we tested.

We avoided clubs that charge more than the wines are worth (like bulk wines priced and labeled as if they’re from smaller producers).

We preferred clubs that use sommeliers or other experts to select their wines, rather than those that rely on huge wine firms or marketing pros.

We looked for clubs that ship quality wines and offer a good value—but the better subscription services tend to be pretty expensive. We’ve also outlined some common pitfalls you should be aware of before signing up, and we offer advice on how to choose a wine club if our recommended picks don't meet your specific needs.

This is one of the best clubs for learning about wine, with somm-selected bottles starting at around $25. Wine Access's customer service and temperature-controlled shipping stood out, but it ships only four to six times per year.

Choose Wine Access if you want bottles selected by sommeliers and you’re eager to learn more about the wine you drink. This club immediately stood out for its transparency about the selection process, range of wines, educational materials, and free temperature-controlled shipping (a rarity among most subscription services). Of its five club options, we tested The Discovery Club, which includes six bottles of wine focused on a changing quarterly theme. Each wine comes with a detailed information page, which provides an overview of the winemaker and region, as well as tasting notes and suggested food pairings.

Although we would have preferred a bit more variety with the selection of red wines in our order, it's clear Wine Access puts a lot of thought into its club experience. We didn't test its Wine Folly Wine Club, but we think it would be another great option for wine nerds who want to learn about specific regions and styles of wine. Among the wine clubs we tested, Wine Access's customer service was also the best, and this club ships to the most states. It also offers gift cards in a range of denominations.

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SommSelect is another great club for learning about wine, with sommelier-selected bottles starting around $25. This one is a better choice if you prefer a monthly shipment or you want to build your own case. Customer service is less responsive, though, and there are fewer à la carte bottles under $30.

If you want more-frequent shipments than you get from Wine Access, SommSelect is another great option for wines chosen by sommeliers. We tested its least expensive club, The Explore 4, which includes four monthly bottles focused on a changing theme. We liked all of the wines in our shipment, and we appreciated the varied styles and regional representation of the bottles we received. Like Wine Access, SommSelect provided extensive information about the wines in its shipments. If you’d rather pick your own wines, SommSelect has another club that allows you to build your own case (Wine Access also lets you buy cases, but not as part of a subscription). SommSelect also has curated club gift packs, if you want to send wine as a gift or you don't want to commit to a subscription. For a fee, to prevent spoilage SommSelect ships its wine using an ice pack in the summer months; this is one of the few wine clubs that offer this option. Unlike Wine Access's customer service, SommSelect's was slower to respond (each time we called, we had to leave a voicemail and wait for a representative to get back to us).

This is one of the best clubs for learning about wine, with somm-selected bottles starting at around $25. Wine Access's customer service and temperature-controlled shipping stood out, but it ships only four to six times per year.

SommSelect is another great club for learning about wine, with sommelier-selected bottles starting around $25. This one is a better choice if you prefer a monthly shipment or you want to build your own case. Customer service is less responsive, though, and there are fewer à la carte bottles under $30.

I’m a senior staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter, and since 2016 I’ve reviewed an array of kitchen gear and tableware—including wine glasses and the best barware for home cocktails. I was also a bartender in New York City for several years. And I took courses on wine and spirits during my time as an editor and later as a student at the International Culinary Center (since acquired by the Institute of Culinary Education).

We enlisted Michele Thomas, a sommelier and general manager of The Greene Grape in Brooklyn, New York, to help us taste-test the wines (with the labels and any information about the subscription services they came from concealed). Thomas's training as a sommelier allowed her to detect specific varietals of wine—and sometimes even where they came from—without looking at the bottle, noting whether the wines were a good or poor representation of a particular style. Even if a wine wasn't to her personal liking, she could still objectively determine its production quality. I tasted each of the wines with Thomas, as well as with supervising editor Marilyn Ong and senior staff writer Lesley Stockton.

To learn more about what makes a great wine club, I spoke with Eric Asimov, wine critic for The New York Times, and Elizabeth Schneider, host of the Wine for Normal People podcast and a former taster for a now-defunct wine club. (Full disclosure: Wine Access is currently a sponsor of Schneider's podcast. This had no bearing on how we made our picks.)

For information on bulk- and private-label wine production, I spoke with Dwayne Bershaw, a lecturer in enology in the Department of Food Sciences at Cornell University.

To better understand wine shipping laws in the US, I attended the 2021 annual shipping summit of the National Association of Wine Retailers (NAWR). I also spoke with John Hinman, a founding partner of Hinman & Carmichael, LLP, a law firm specializing in the alcoholic beverage industry, and with Sara Mann, a wine industry corporate business attorney and partner of Hinman & Carmichael, LLP.

There are plenty of reasons why a wine club may or may not be a good fit for you. Here are some things to consider:

Reasons to join a club:

Reasons not to join a club:

See our section on how we picked wine clubs to learn about red flags you should watch out for when choosing a wine club.

This is one of the best clubs for learning about wine, with somm-selected bottles starting at around $25. Wine Access's customer service and temperature-controlled shipping stood out, but it ships only four to six times per year.

Get this if: You want great sommelier-selected wines, and you also want to learn something.

Why we like it: This wine subscription has the best blend of all the elements you should seek in a club: transparency, great customer service, good-quality wines, and lots of information about what you’re drinking. Wine Access's online wine shop is easy to navigate, and it offers a nice selection of wines for purchase à la carte, including sweet wines, fortified wines, and sake. If you especially enjoyed any of the wines from your subscription, you’ll be able to order them again while they’re in stock. If you’re looking for more guidance, you can also shop for wine based on a specific sommelier's recommendations or from collections created in collaboration with Michelin-rated restaurants.

Unlike many wine-subscription services, Wine Access is very transparent about who chooses the bottles for its clubs. Its wine team consists of sommeliers and masters of wine, including Vanessa Conlin, who also hosts wine-tasting videos on the Wine Access YouTube channel. It's clear that those on the team are passionate about wine and want to pass their knowledge on to you. Wine Access said the team tastes more than 20,000 bottles each year—and less than 5% of bottles make the cut. Many small-production bottles are featured on Wine Access's limited-time-offer page, which rotates based on supply. Unlike many clubs that rely on huge wine firms to make their selections, Wine Access has a team of employees who travel to Europe for tastings. In fact, according to the representative we spoke with, two wine-team members recently spent two weeks sourcing wines in France. Wine Access also acquires its wines directly through wineries, importers, or industry connections.

This club also provided the most educational material of any service we tested: a full page of information about each wine in your subscription. And Wine Access offers supplemental information online—such as the aforementioned wine-tasting videos on YouTube, plus a blog and a podcast.

Of Wine Access's five club offerings, we tested the Discovery Club, which features six wines focused on a changing theme each quarter (you can choose between all reds or a mix of styles; we opted for the latter). The theme for the July 2021 shipment was "Our Summer Playlist." Though we thought our box had too many red wines with a similar bold style, all of the wines were of good quality. We enjoyed the Bold Wine Co. Chardonnay, which wasn't over-oaked, as many California chardonnays can be. Sommelier Michele Thomas, who helped us taste-test the wines, noted, "This is how you use oak without being a jerk." The Bernard Lonclas Sélection Brut Champagne was rich and buttery, with notes of toast and brioche. And though Thomas found it a little too big and round overall, she said this bottle was of good quality and not cheap.

Wine Access's shipping options demonstrate a level of care that isn't seen in most other wine clubs. This is one of the few subscription services that ships its wine along with a free ice pack in the summer months, to prevent spoilage. For no additional charge, Wine Access also gives you the option of holding your order until it has determined temperatures are safe enough to deliver to your area. Wine Access even allows you to choose between styrofoam and cardboard insulation when shipping in the summer months. If you aren't able to receive wine at your home or workplace address, you can also have your order sent to a FedEx or UPS pickup location. And if you’re not happy with how the wines tasted in your order, or if they arrive damaged or spoiled, you can contact a customer service representative, and Wine Access will replace them.

Wine Access also had the best customer service of any club we contacted. The knowledgeable representatives were able to answer all of our questions with a surprising amount of detail. The company said everyone on the Wine Access customer service team is required to complete a training course, so they have a basic understanding of wine. It's also very easy to cancel your subscription—simply call or email customer service and someone will take care of it, no questions asked.

Though we tested only The Discovery Club, Wine Access has four other club options. The Connoisseurs Club, which doesn't have a specific theme, offers two high-end reds (costing about $75 per bottle) each quarter. The Michelin Prestige subscription features bottles chosen in collaboration with the staff of Michelin-rated restaurants. If your goal is to educate yourself about wine varietals or regions, the Wine Folly Wine Club is another great option, especially for wine geeks who want to focus on specific topics. For instance, one of this club's past themes featured bottles aged in stainless steel, French oak, American oak, and concrete, so subscribers could learn to taste the difference between the various aging vessels. Wine collectors (who don't mind dropping some serious cash) may be interested in the Collector's Club, which features allocations of rare bottles. You can also purchase bottles through the online wine shop, which will ship the next day (unless they’re limited-time offers, which can take up to three weeks to ship). Or you can combine bottles with your subscription order, with no additional shipping charge.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Though the wines in the Discovery Club were all of good quality, the four reds (a zinfandel, a merlot, a cabernet sauvignon, and a pinot noir) were all from California and shared a similar flavor profile and style of winemaking. We’d have liked to receive a more-diverse selection of wines from other regions. We thought the bold reds in the selection we received would have been more appropriate for a fall or winter shipment, not for the middle of summer. Perhaps this club's thinking was to pair reds for steaks on the grill. Even so, we think that's a narrow interpretation of summer grilling. That said, we realize the one shipment we tested was just a snapshot of the club. For instance, the next theme after the one we tried was "coastal vineyards," which highlights a totally different style of wine.

Wine Access's various clubs ship four to six times per year, rather than monthly. So keep in mind that your order may not be delivered immediately.

Price: $120 to $400 per shipment

Club options: Discovery Club (six mixed bottles, quarterly), Connoisseur Club (two red bottles, quarterly), Michelin Prestige (four mixed bottles, five times a year), Wine Folly Wine Club (four mixed bottles, six times a year), Collector's Club ($250 to $400, number of bottles varies, quarterly)

Ships to: all states (plus Washington, DC) except Alaska, Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, and Utah

Shipping fees: included for orders of six bottles or more, or those totaling $120 and up sitewide (otherwise, price varies based on location)

Temperature-controlled shipping: yes (free)

SommSelect is another great club for learning about wine, with sommelier-selected bottles starting around $25. This one is a better choice if you prefer a monthly shipment or you want to build your own case. Customer service is less responsive, though, and there are fewer à la carte bottles under $30.

Get this if: You want sommelier-selected wines shipped monthly, or you want the flexibility to build your own case.

Why we like it: SommSelect has many of the things we look for in a good subscription service. Aside from having the best-tasting wines of those from all the clubs we tested, SommSelect is transparent about who chooses its wines, and it gives you the option of shipping wines with an ice pack in warmer months. Apart from its various club options, SommSelect also allows you to build your own case of wine. This gives you autonomy over your order—it's a great option if you already know what wines you like to drink. SommSelect has a good selection of wines that can be bought à la carte through its online store, including port, dessert wines, and organic/biodynamic wines. For a separate fee, SommSelect has options for private tastings and virtual events, as well as sommelier consultations.

We tested SommSelect's The Explore 4 wine club, which includes four mixed bottles focused on a changing theme each month. The initial shipment includes an introductory pack of wines (two reds and two whites) to get you acquainted with the service, after which the themed shipments begin. SommSelect's July 2021 theme was "coastal whites." We enjoyed all four of the crowd-pleasing wines included in our box, and we appreciated that the wines were from different regions. We also liked that the bottles were more varied in style than those we tasted from Wine Access. Sommelier Michele Thomas said the Domaine Sigalas, ‘AM’ Assyrtiko–Monemvasia from Greece was one of the better wines we tried in our white wine tasting. If you don't want to commit to a subscription, or you want to send wine as a one-time gift, you can also purchase one of its curated club gift packs. The Explore 4 Gift Pack features the same wines that are included in the monthly subscription.

SommSelect's other clubs include: The Somm 6 (six mixed bottles shipped monthly), The Somm 6 Reds (6 red bottles shipped monthly), and The Blind 6 (six mystery bottles wrapped in black tissue paper and numbered for blind tastings, shipped monthly). If none of these options appeal to you, SommSelect also has a build-a-case club for $10 per month, plus the cost of the wine. This club allows you to select any wines you want from the online store. Once you add 12 bottles to your order, SommSelect will ship the order for free. There's no limit to the number of cases you can order per month. But you have to pay for each bottle individually, in addition to the monthly club fee (which is less than the price of shipping would be). This club also gives you access to custom appointments with its sommeliers, free of charge (though the representative we spoke with said this service is best for larger wine purchases, such as for building a wine cellar or curating wines for large events). Note: The build-a-case club won't include any literature on the wines because it's custom-curated. However, details about SommSelect's wines are available on the website, including tasting notes, food-pairing suggestions, and information about the producers.

SommSelect also features daily wine offers on its website and via email. This is a single wine it chooses to focus on (it's an easy way to learn about new wines without becoming overwhelmed, but these emails can become a bit much if you’re not interested). And SommSelect automatically ships your wine with an ice pack in the summer months for an additional $5 to $10, depending on whether you live east or west of the Rockies. (Wine Access provides this same service for free.) SommSelect can also hold your wine free of charge and send it when temperatures are lower. There isn't an option to hold your wines in winter, but the company told us SommSelect will monitor temperatures and avoid sending your wine in any extreme weather. The wines are shipped in a styrofoam container for insulation in the summer months, and in cardboard during the rest of the year.

SommSelect was founded by Master Sommelier Ian Cauble in 2014. And, like Wine Access, the company is very transparent about the team of eight contributing sommeliers who select its wines. The company says the team does weekly roundtable wine tastings at which they try hundreds of wines. Prior to the pandemic, the team traveled multiple times per year to various regions to taste wines (which they intend to resume doing). SommSelect also has relationships with wineries that send wines for its team to taste, and this club prioritizes sourcing small-batch wines from lesser-known regions and wineries all over the world.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The biggest flaw with SommSelect is its customer service. We had to leave a message each time we called because there was no one available. Someone always returned our calls, but because the company is based in California, it was sometimes as late as 8 p.m. on the East Coast. That said, the representatives we spoke with were very helpful and eager to answer our questions. The company said all of its customer service agents have some level of wine training. As with Wine Access, you can call or email SommSelect's customer service if you want to cancel your subscription.

Due to a heat wave we experienced in New York City in July 2021, SommSelect automatically held our intro pack of wines and sent our monthly themed pack of white wines in its place. However, we weren't aware that this had happened until we contacted a SommSelect public relations representative after the fact. We also didn't receive the informational packet about the wines in our box, so we weren't sure what the monthly theme was. (Once we reached out, SommSelect PR later sent us another box that included the informational packet on the wines.) Separately, we had another box of wines sent to our photo editor in California, and that box also lacked the informational booklets for the wines (which could suggest a quality-control issue). That said, those we did receive were detailed and featured beautiful photographs of the wines and their regions. If you contact SommSelect, it can always send you a PDF of the wine literature via email, if you didn't receive it in your box.

SommSelect will refund or replace any damaged or spoiled wine but not bottles you didn't like. (Wine Access, on the other hand, will refund you for any bottles you aren't satisfied with after tasting.) However, SommSelect says it will work with you to understand your likes and dislikes, and it can make some tweaks to your selection for future orders.

SommSelect's online shop has a much smaller inventory of wines than Wine Access's shop, particularly in the lower price range. Compared with SommSelect, Wine Access sells about three times the amount of bottles in the $30-and-under price range (at the time of writing). As with Wine Access, with SommSelect do keep in mind that your order may not ship immediately, depending on when it's placed.

We also noticed some of the wines included in our box sold out quickly in the online shop, so we wouldn't have been able to buy bottles we liked again. But we expect this is a common occurrence for many wine clubs, especially those with popular bottles sold à la carte. Understandably, the club can purchase only so many bottles of each wine, so we don't think this is a dealbreaker.

Price: $120 to $200 per shipment

Club options: The Explore 4 (four mixed bottles, monthly), The Somm 6 (six mixed bottles, monthly), The Somm 6 Reds (six red bottles, monthly), The Blind 6 (six mystery bottles for blind tastings, monthly)

Ships to: all states (plus Washington, DC) except Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Michigan, Mississippi, and Utah (shipments to Hawaii use 2nd Day Air, at no additional charge)

Shipping fees: included for orders of $199 or more (all club options except for The Explore 4)

Temperature-controlled shipping: yes ($5 automatically added to your order in warmer months, to cover the cost)

Many of the wine clubs we researched landed in a few basic categories:

If you’re still unsure about which wine club to order from, or you want additional options beyond our picks, here's a cheat sheet on what we’d recommend, based on different scenarios:

If you don't want to spend a lot and prefer to schedule your own deliveries:

If you’re willing to pay a bit more (but not too much) for interesting wines picked by real sommeliers:

If you’re willing to spend a lot on the wines you drink, you prefer getting a completely customizable selection chosen by a sommelier, and you’re also willing to pay more for shipping:

If you want to support a brick-and-mortar shop, or you don't want to pay for shipping and/or deal with the hassle of delivery:

If you don't have access to a good wine store, but you still want to support a brick-and-mortar shop:

If you have specific dietary needs or allergies that limit which wines you can drink:

If you like only a certain varietal of wine (such as cabernet sauvignon) or wines from a specific region (Champagne, for example):

If you drink primarily natural, organic, and biodynamic wines, or those that come from wineries with sustainable farming practices:

If you’re willing to spend more on shipping to support a natural wine brick-and-mortar shop and have your wines selected by a sommelier and/or knowledgeable wine staff:

If you have trouble finishing a whole bottle of wine:

If you want a wine club that supports a specific cause:

Since there are thousands of wine clubs to consider, we had to narrow our parameters for this guide. We decided to avoid winery club subscriptions because the selection of wines is too niche and regionally specific to appeal to everyone. We also excluded clubs exclusively selling domestic wines, opting for those that offered an international selection as well. Additionally, we ruled out clubs selling exclusively one varietal of wine or wines from a single region, such as Champagne (if you’re looking for this type of club, see our section on choosing a wine club). We ultimately thought these types of subscription services were too specific to please a broad range of palates.

In addition to the parameters above, we looked for wine clubs that met the following criteria:

After researching more than 100 wine clubs, we applied the above criteria and narrowed our selection down to five services: Wine Access, SommSelect, Martha Stewart Wine Co. Wine Club (now discontinued), Winc, and The Grand Tour Wine Club.

To remain anonymous, we had each of the five wine-subscription services we tested send wines to my home address in New York City. We wanted to experience the shipping process as consumers would and to see what condition the wine arrived in during the hottest July in recorded human history. To ensure each wine club was given a fair shot, I made sure I was home to accept each delivery so that the wines could be refrigerated immediately upon arrival. Our testing took place during the pandemic, and we didn't have access to our test kitchen. So I commandeered a friend's fridge in their temporarily vacant apartment to store the wines until we were able to taste them (I still needed room to store food in my own fridge, after all). All of the wines were kept at an optimal 50 °F.

Each box varied in the number of bottles, depending on the available options offered by the club. Of those we tested, there were between three to 12 bottles per box, which came to 30 bottles total. We enlisted Michele Thomas, sommelier and general manager of The Greene Grape in Brooklyn, New York, as a paid consultant to help us taste the wines from each subscription service we tested. Wirecutter supervising editor Marilyn Ong and senior staff writer Lesley Stockton also joined us for the label-concealed tasting.

We evaluated the wines based on their aroma, acidity, tannins, body, mouthfeel, and finish—the lingering impression of the wine after sipping. Since most people enjoy wine with food, we also snacked on cheese and bread throughout the tasting, to mimic a real-world experience. Even if we didn't like a particular wine from a box, we considered the overall quality of the selection. We also evaluated the informational materials that were provided for the wines (in the boxes that included them). After tasting the wines, I revealed the labels. Thomas helped us determine whether the cost of the subscription and the individual bottles were appropriately priced.

Many aggressively marketed, algorithm-based wine subscription services sell private- or white-label wines—that is, wines that are bought via the bulk wine market and relabeled or rebranded to be sold by the club (often for much more than they’re actually worth). Though there's nothing wrong with drinking these wines, it's nearly impossible to trace where the grapes came from or know what additives may have been used to make them. The quality of private- and white-label wines varies a lot, depending on where the grapes were grown. Some might be homogenized blends of grapes from a slew of vineyards, while others could be from prestigious appellations within a particular region. Some people may not care where their wine comes from or how it's made, but we still think it's important to know how the quality of these wines differs from that of other wines. Bottom line: We don't think you should pay too much for private- or white-label wines if you decide to join a club that sells them. See this article for a detailed look at how private- and white-label wines are made, as well as how they differ from other wines and how you can recognize them.

White- or private-label wines can offer a good value if you know what to buy. But often bottles sold through wine clubs aren't the best quality and are overpriced.

Before you choose a wine club, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basic alcohol shipping laws in your area. If you’re noticing that a club won't ship to your state, that may be because it is prohibited by law. Most laws today are arbitrary holdovers from the Prohibition era. And some laws are so complicated they’ll make your head spin, said John Hinman, a lawyer specializing in the alcoholic beverage industry. We won't bore you with the nitty-gritty details, but here are the main shipping policies you should be aware of:

Wine can't be shipped to "dry" zip codes—those that prohibit the local sale of alcohol. In other words, even if a state allows wine shipments, specific zip codes within the state may not. To complicate matters further, some counties have mixed "dry" and "wet" status, so be sure to check the local laws in your area. This is a less common issue, but it's one to know about if you live within said zip codes.

Winc is one of the more popular algorithm-based clubs you may have read about or seen advertised online. Even though the pros we spoke with don't recommend these types of clubs, we wanted to give Winc a try because of its popularity. Unfortunately, during the course of research and testing in 2021, we found Winc's website frustrating to navigate, with strange user-interface choices that made it all too easy to unwittingly commit to a membership. We also found Winc's customer service unhelpful, and their wine mediocre, so we couldn't recommend this club.

If you’re unfamiliar with natural wines, the term may sound a little funny. "Natural," after all, would imply that other wines are somehow "unnatural," but that's not the case. There's not an official definition of natural wine (some people even prefer the term "low-intervention wine"). But at its most basic level, natural wine is wine made from native yeasts (naturally occurring yeasts present on the grapes or in the cellar), rather than from cultured yeasts (which are commercially made). It's sort of like bread that's made from sourdough starter, versus bread that's made from a packet of store-bought yeast. Also, the grapes aren't sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, and the wines are often unfiltered and contain fewer additives. (For an in-depth look at natural wines, check out this Vox article.)

We plan to test clubs featuring natural wines in an upcoming update of this guide. In the meantime, we did hours of research and spoke with a few experts, and we found that clubs like Primal Wine Club, Plonk Wine Club, MYSA Natural Wine, Helen's Wine Club, and Dry Farm Wines all offer a good value and selection of natural wines. Because the natural wine pool is usually smaller, there's often overlap with the bottles these clubs sell. Our best advice is to find a club that meets your specific needs, whether that's based on the shipping price, number of bottles, or the frequency of shipments. If you need help getting started, see our section on how to choose a wine club, which includes suggestions for clubs that feature natural wines.

The Grand Tour Wine Club by Verve Wine was the only mom-and-pop wine club we tested. We decided to include it in our roundup to see how it compared to the more-corporate clubs. We liked most of the wines in our box, but ultimately we decided $20 for shipping was prohibitively expensive for some people, especially when other clubs include it in the total cost. If you live locally, however, or you want to support a brick-and-mortar shop, we think it's a great option. See our section on how to choose a wine club for more options like this one.

Firstleaf typically sells wines with more regional specificity on the label compared with other algorithm-based clubs, like Winc. Some examples are the Tintoretto Sangiovese from Puglia I.G.T., Italy, or the Daring Escape red blend from Paso Robles, California. It also sells expensive wines that can be bought separately, such as the 2018 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir. But Firstleaf will never include a wine of that caliber in your subscription order. It mostly offers Firstleaf "exclusives," wine made by Firstleaf instead of another producer, and sold exclusively by them; Firstleaf doesn't own its vineyards, it buys grapes or juice from domestic and international sources to make its own wine. Annoyingly, you have to provide your email before you can see your quiz results. It's bad enough to have a robot choosing your wine, but handing over your email willy-nilly feels even more icky. Like those of all the algorithm-based clubs we tried, we found Firstleaf's wine quiz to be pretty limiting. Firstleaf gives you the option to swap out wines the algorithm chooses for you (but the pool of options is smaller—you can't select from their entire catalog of wines as you can with Winc), or you can contact their customer service to customize your selection if you’re not happy with your quiz results (but who wants to do that?). Every shipment is $90 (for six bottles) including shipping, which we think is pretty steep to pay for their "exclusive wines,"—especially considering our favorite wine club overall, Wine Access, charges just $30 more in total for the same number of bottles (and you can buy them elsewhere if you discover ones you like, since they’re not primarily sold through the club).

The Bright Cellars quiz allows you to select just one option per question, which is very limiting considering most people have varied tastes. As with Firstleaf, after you complete the Bright Cellars quiz, you have to provide your email before you can view its algorithm-selected wines. Once Bright Cellars has your email, it will flood your inbox with a never-ending stream of promotional offers. It also sells mostly private-label wines, which we suspect are being sold at inflated prices (after the initial payment of $38.00, you’re charged $88 per month for just four bottles of what appear to be predominantly private-label wines). Also like Firstleaf and Winc, at the top of the Bright Cellars site there's a countdown warning that your "discount is expiring." It feels like a ticking time bomb, which is not an ideal circumstance for buying wine—or anything, for that matter.

The Astor Place Wine Club, from a well-respected wine shop in New York City, requires you to pay for your subscription in advance, which we think is too much cash to drop at once (you’d have to pay $2,100 upfront for a yearly subscription). You also can't skip shipments, so we opted not to test it.

The wines from Wine Awesomeness are more regionally specific than those offered by Winc. However, after speaking with a customer service representative, we learned Wine Awesomeness predominantly acquires its wines from winemakers who come to it looking to sell. Though there's nothing wrong with that process, we were skeptical of how discerning this company might be in its selection process, and we opted not to test. That said, Wine Awesomeness offers wines produced by Mary Taylor, a respected white-label producer, so we may consider testing this club for a future update.

Palate Club requires you to do a wine tasting with four half-bottles of either white or red wine (which comes to $59) to gauge your preferences before you start receiving wine shipments. After tasting the wines, you rate them using the Palate Club app, which allows its algorithm to learn more about your preferences and determine what to recommend to you next. Unfortunately, we couldn't get in touch with a customer service representative after repeated calls during normal business hours, and we couldn't leave a message because a voicemail box hadn't been set up. So we dismissed this one.

90+ Cellars is essentially a wine broker that works with wineries and vineyards to produce wines under its own label. We’ve seen this brand sold at various retail stores and online. So we don't think it's necessary to join this club, unless you already like 90+ Cellars wines and want the convenience of having them delivered.

Thrive Market doesn't have a wine club, but for a small fee you can subscribe to its online market to order wine. However, Wirecutter senior editor Erica Ogg bought wine through the service and said she was consistently unhappy with the bottles she received. Based on her firsthand experience, we decided not to test Thrive Market's wines.

We used to recommend the Martha Stewart Wine Co. Wine Club as a budget pick, but unfortunately Martha Stewart discontinued that wine subscription.

Aside from the clubs listed above, we ruled out more than 100 wine clubs for a variety of reasons, including: unfavorable reviews, limited shipping options, exorbitant shipping prices, inflated wine prices, insufficient quality, lack of customization, poor replacement policies, limited wine options, poor customer service, lack of transparency, or the inability to buy wines à la carte.

Karen MacNeil, The Wine Bible, Workman Publishing Company Inc., 2001

An Insider's Guide to the US Bulk Wine Market, Beverage Trade Network, May 8, 2016

Madeline Puckette, The Trouble With "White Label" Wines, Wine Folly, April 4, 2016

Elizabeth Schneider, Wine for Normal People, The Remake: 7 Types of (Non-Winery) Wine Clubs, podcast, Episode 185, September 1, 2020

Michele Thomas, sommelier and general manager of The Greene Grape in Brooklyn, New York, in-person wine tasting and phone interview, August 19, 2021, and September 21, 2021

Eric Asimov, wine critic for The New York Times, phone interview, June 29, 2021

Elizabeth Schneider, host of the Wine for Normal People podcast, phone interview, June 24, 2021

Dwayne Bershaw, lecturer in enology in the Department of Food Sciences at Cornell University, phone interview, August 12, 2021

John Hinman, founding partner of Hinman & Carmichael, LLP, a law firm specializing in the alcoholic beverage industry, phone interview, May 26, 2021

Sara Mann, wine industry corporate business attorney and a partner of Hinman & Carmichael, LLP, phone interview, September 22, 2021

Michael Sullivan

Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade.

by Eve O'Neill, Michael Sullivan, and Tammie Teclemariam

After tasting wine in nearly 100 glasses with several experts, we think the best everyday wine glass is the Libbey Signature Kentfield Estate All-Purpose Glass.

by Connor Grossman

Leave your bottles in the wine cellar. These are the boxed and canned wines that Wirecutter staffers love.

by Tammie Teclemariam and Marguerite Preston

Manufacturers of even the thinnest, most expensive stemware recommend washing wine glasses in the dishwasher.

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A wine fridge will protect your bottles and improve your drinking experience. We like the Wine Enthusiast Classic 70 Dual Zone and the single-zone Classic 80.